PHOTO:Solène Gün-Turunç
Solène Gün is a young photographer whose work focuses on the realities and representation of immigrant youth. Turning her poetic and optimistic gaze on a topic that is constantly in the news Solène Gün undercuts prevailing stereotypes and prejudices. Both her photographic idiom and the radical subtlety of her presentation demonstrate great maturity.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Solène Gün Archive
Solène Gün in her first solo museum exhibition presents her project “Turunç” a series portraying the everyday life of young men of Turkish descent in the suburbs of Paris and Berlin. Herself of mixed French, Turkish and Kurdish ancestry, Gün seeks to capture their social environment. As the artist says “Being myself a child of Turkish/Kurdish immigrants and born in the suburbs of Paris, it meant a lot to me to tell the story of these young men in order to get out of the stereotypes that people can have on them. It was also a way, of course, to reconnect with the familiar settings of my childhood and bring a feminine vision of it. What I express through this series is what binds this community living in those places and put forward the attachment to its roots that this young generation proudly displays”. Her photographs document the hope, fraternity and solidarity that unites them as a community, despite the boredom, the violence and the despair they are confronted with. Solène Gün transcribes this tension into a visual language, in which intimate close-ups alternate with averted faces and anonymous facades. She focuses on symbolic details, such as a necklace, a prayer rug or the silhouette of a brotherly handshake, collectively becoming a sign system referencing these young men’s roots. Through her poetic images, Gün creates empathy with a group that is frequently the target of negative stereotypical images, and that is torn between the conflicting urge to escape notice and to assert themselves. In her work, the suburbs become a universe apart, out of sight or interest of the public authorities, where a lack of perspective goes hand in hand with strong mutual solidarity. In Gün’s work, identity is examined as a vulnerable entity, balancing between who you are and how you’re being perceived. The title of the work, “Turunç” means “bitter orange”, a fruit commonly found in Turkey. In Gün’s work, the fruit is a metaphor for the hope and expectations that are often not fulfilled. Gün herself grew up in a Parisian suburb before moving to Switzerland with her family. During her study, she decided to return to her roots and had to find her way back in via various intermediaries. Whether in Paris or in Berlin, where a district is even referred to as “Little Istanbul” on account of the large Turkish population there, Gün recognises the same kind of issues. Her work is therefore not so much about the specific location that she documents, but the general phenomenon of life in the suburbs, that is, in the fringe of society.
Info: Foam, Keizersgracht 609, Amsterdam, Duration: 13/12/19-16/2/20, Days & Hours: Mon-Wed & Sat-Sun 10:00-18:00, Thu-Fri 10:00-21:00, www.foam.org
